A FLUSHING CISTERN

Abstract: A flushing cistern comprises a reservoir (1) with an outlet opening (3), the opening and closing of which is controlled by means of a cistern bell (4). The cistern bell is connected to an activating means (5, 6) for lifting the cistern bell (4) when the flushing is initiated. The cistern bell comprises a cavity (4H) and a circumferential sealing means (4T) co-operating with the area about the outlet opening (3) in the reservoir. At least a portion of the cavity (4H) in the cistern bell (4) forms a buoyancy-adjusting chamber (4H) being open downwardly inside the sealing means (4T) and communicating upwardly with a control means (8) through an air-escape pipe (7).

Description: Title: A flushing cistern. Technical Field The invention relates to a flushing cistern comprising a reservoir with an outlet opening, the opening and closing of which is controlled by means of a cistern bell connected to an activating means for lifting the cistern bell when the flushing is initiated, said cistern bell comprising a cavity and a circumferential sealing means co-operating with the area about the outlet opening in the reservoir. Background Art It is known to provide flushing cisterns with two or more flushing vol¬ umes, which according to the prior art is allowed either by readjusting the filling level of the rinsing fluid in the cistern tank or by the lift of the bell moving up and downwards being adjustable. This requires, however, additional equipment and in fact it is simultaneously necessary to alter the lifting speed of the bell too, the latter requiring that the user to becomes familiar with the change. Brief Description of the Invention The object of the present invention is to simplify the cistern in such a manner that it is easy for the user to alter the flushing volume without involving a change of the usual procedure. The flushing cistern according to the present invention is characterised in that at least a portion of the cavity in the cistern bell forms a buoy¬ ancy-adjusting chamber being open downwardly inside the sealing means and upwardly communicating with a control means through an air-escape pipe. Such a flushing cistern operates in the manner described below on the assumption that the said air-escape pipe initially is kept constantly open. When the bell is in the lowermost position, the cavity is empty because possible, previously present fluid has already flown out more or less quickly through the opening at the bottom of the cavity and then through the outlet opening of the reservoir. When the bell is then lifted by means of the lifting means which is often just a lever, the flushing fluid immediately starts to flow out of the reservoir through the outlet opening below the sealing means of the cistern bell. Simultaneously some of the flushing fluid flows, however, into the buoyancy-adjusting chamber in the cistern bell through the downward opening thereof. As the air-escape pipe is open, the flushing fluid can rise freely into the cavity of the latter. The resulting effect on the buoyancy of the cistern bell is such that the cistern bell becomes heavier and is forced to return faster to and enter the lowermost position than when the latter cavity is empty. In other words the flushing is reduced compared to the situation where said cavity was empty. The closing of the air-escape pipe to the buoyancy-adjusting chamber prevents the flushing fluid from flowing into said cavity due to the presence of the air confined therein. When the cistern bell is activated, the flushing volume is therefore large because the cistern bell slowly returns to its lower closing position. According to the invention it is thus possible to obtain a simple embodi¬ ment allowing an adjustment to two or more flushing volumes by means of the same control means because the means for closing the air-escape pipe can enter a number of positions corresponding to the desired num¬ ber of flushing volumes. It should in this connection be noted that the opening size of the air-escape pipe is of vital importance for the maxi¬ mum achievable flushing volume. A narrow opening allows a larger flushing volume than a large opening. In other words it is in practise possible in advance to obtain an adjustment in principle to any desired maximum achievable flushing volume by delivering air-escape pipes or hoses of varying sizes, and for toilets of a varying pan size and therefore with varying requirements to the maximum flushing volume it is thus possible to deliver a set of air-escape pipes of a varying opening where each opening is adapted to a predetermined toilet or flushing cistern size. According to the invention the buoyancy-adjusting chamber may particu¬ larly advantageously be rotationally symmetrically shaped about an axis being vertically arranged in the use position, and the buyancy-adjusting chamber may be open downwardly through a plurality of openings arranged along a circle about said axis immediately inside the sealing means. According to the invention the buoyancy-adjusting chamber may, if desired, be shaped about a centrally arranged channel formed integral with the cistern bell and acting as an overflow for the reservoir, whereby an overflow is associated with the cistern bell in a simple manner. In connection with a flushing cistern where the activating means com¬ prises a lever with a gripping button placed outside the reservoir, a particularly simple and practical embodiment is according to the inven- tion obtained when at least a portion of the air-escape pipe extends through the interior of the lever to a control means provided in the grip¬ ping button. Finally according to the invention, an adjustable stopping means for the lift of the cistern bell may according to the invention be provided, where- by a fine-adjustment of the desired various flushing volumes can be obtained in combination with the utilization of the buoyancy-adjusting chamber. Brief Description of the Drawings Various embodiments of the invention are described in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic, vertical, sectional view through an embodiment of a flushing cistern according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic, sectional view of a second embodiment of the invention corresponding to the sectional view in Fig. 1 , and Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic, vertical, sectional view of a third embodiment of the invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention In Fig. 1 of the drawing a flushing cistern is designated 1 . The flushing cistern contains a flushing fluid 2 which is water in practise when it is a toilet cistern. When a cistern bell 4 with a downward rim sealing 4T is lifted, the flushing fluid 2 passes therebelow and flows out through an outlet opening 3 in a direction indicated by an arrow A. The cistern bell 4 is shown with a tight outer jacket and an inner funnel-shaped wall which together define a cavity 4H forming a buoyancy-adjusting cham¬ ber. The bell 4 is lifted by means of a lever 5 with an upper gripping button 6, said lever extending through an opening with a relatively large sectional area in the top of the cistern bell. This relatively large upper opening communicates openly with the interior of the funnel-shaped wall and is, as indicated, provided with an opening space between the cistern bell 4 and the lever 5 being so large that excess flushing fluid is allowed to flow out therebetween. As a result, an excessive filling with flushing fluid of the reservoir of a flushing cistern is prevented. In order to obtain the advantages of the invention, there is provided a suitable, upwardly projecting air-escape pipe 7 with an opening 70. The opening 70 is completely or partially closable by means of an indicated suitable blocking means of any known type. One or more flow openings 42 are provided in the lower portion of the bell, said flow openings directly facing the flow zone of flushing water 2. When a lifted bell 4 during an initiated flushing moves downwards due to the gravitational effect so as to enter the position shown in Fig. 1 , the flushing fluid 2 flows into the cavity 4H, cf. the reference numeral 20, provided the opening 70 of the air-escape pipe 7 is open. The flushing fluid 20 causes the bell 4 to move faster downwards with the result that the flushing is reduced compared to the situation without openings 42 or with a closed opening 70. Fig. 2 of the drawing shows a second embodiment of the invention. Here the air-escape pipe 7, such as a hose, extends into an inner hollow space formed in the lever 5 in the longitudinal direction and ending at 70. The opening at 70 is completely or partially closeable by means of a blocking disk 87 rotatable about a pivot and arranged in the gripping button 6. The blocking disk can be adjusted by means of a small grip- ping means 8. In the position shown, the opening 70 is opened to a maximum. The opening 70 is completely or partially closed by turning the gripping means 8 counter-clockwise, optionally with marked inter¬ mediary positions. Fig. 3 of the drawing shows a further development of the embodiment of Fig. 2. The upper half is almost identical with the one shown in Fig. 2. The lever 5 is supported by a hoop-shaped means 10 only being indicated and comprising hoop-shaped lower members 10B and 10C. The members 10C are terminated by an annular portion around the opening 3 in such a manner that a bushing not shown with unions not shown can retain the entire bell arrangement inside the cistern through the opening 3 by way of one-hole-mounting and in a manner known per se. In this manner already existing flushing cisterns can be modified by a few measures, whereby a reduced water consumption etc. can be obtained. The hoop members 10B or 10 or both 10B and 10 can be provided with elongated openings, whereby the arrangement can be adapted to cisterns of a varying structural height. The cistern bell 4 of the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 is thinner, and more free passage is provided for possible, overflowing flushing fluid at the upper end 9 of the bell body 4. When the lever 5 is lifted, the latter upper end 9 abuts an adjustment screw 9S which can limit the volume of the flushing in a manner already described above. Accordingly, the adjustment screw can be used for adjusting the volume to the large flushing, a reduced flushing or both flushings. By using for instance a lower shape of the bell body 4 as indicated in Fig. 3 with the described flow openings 42 to the cavity 4H, the flow conditions for the flushing fluid flowing out imply that the weight and buoyancy of the cistern bell can be mutually adjusted in such a manner that only a low amount of flushing fluid flows upwards both inside the inner wall of the bell body 4 and into the cavity 4H in connection with a large flushing where the air-escape pipe 7 is blocked. As a result, the entire cistern bell can remain floating high up in the water for a long period. When the surface of the flushing fluid decreases so far that the sealing 4T of the semi- floating bell body is close, but has not yet reached the bottom of the cistern, the flow of flushing fluid continues, but the downwardly draw- ing effect on the various adjacent parts of the bell body 4 by the flush¬ ing fluid flowing out stops in such a manner that without closing the outlet opening the remaining amount of flushing fluid flows out while the bell body 4 emerges through the surface of said flushing fluid with the result that a maximum flushing is in fact obtained. Such an adjustment of the weight of the movable parts and such a flow path of the flushing fluid adjacent especially the lower portion of the cistern bell have revealed that the setting position of the adjusting screw 9S in connec¬ tion with a large flushing is of no particular importance for the volume of the large flushing volume, but the adjusting screw has nevertheless still an effect on the amount of water involved in the low flushing. However, by optionally adjusting the size of the air-escape opening present in the air-escape hose 7 it is possible to adjust one and the same size of reser¬ voir toilets to various requirements to the amount of water, even already when installing in areas presenting limits to the supply of water especial¬ ly to the volume of the large flushing. When for instance the outlet pipes are narrow, it is obvious that for financial reasons another amount of flushing water is necessary per large flushing than when the outlet pipes have a large opening or when the height of the fall thereof is large.

Claims: Claims. 1. A flushing cistern comprising a reservoir with an outlet opening, the opening and closing of which is controlled by means of a cistern bell connected to an activating means for lifting the cistern bell when the flushing is initiated, said cistern bell comprising a cavity and a circumfer¬ ential sealing means co-operating with the area about the outlet opening in the reservoir, ch aracterise d in that at least a portion of the cavity (4H) in the cistern bell (4) forms a buoyancy-adjusting chamber (4H) being open downwardly inside the sealing means (4T) and upwardly communicating with a control means (8) through an air-escape pipe (7). 2. A flushing cistern as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the buyoancy-adjusting chamber (4H) is rotationally symmetrically shaped about an axis being vertically arranged in the use position, and that the buyancy-adjusting chamber (4H) is open downwardly through a plurality of openings (42) arranged along a circle about said axis imme¬ diately inside the sealing means (4T). 3. A flushing cistern as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the buoyancy-adjusting chamber (4H) is shaped about a centrally arranged channel formed integral with the cistern bell (4) and acting as an overflow for the reservoir. 4. A flusing cistern as claimed in claim 1 , and where the activating means comprises a lever with a gripping button placed outside the reser¬ voir, ch aracterised in that at least a portion of the air-escape pipe (7) extends through the interior of the lever (5) to a control means (8) provided in the gripping button (6). 5. A flushing cistern as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that an adjustable stopping means (9S) is provided for the lift of the cistern bell 84).

Inventors: MADSEN IB, NIELSEN KELD A, MADSEN, IB, NIELSEN, KELD, A.
Applicants: BORNHOLMS PLASTVAREFAB APS, MADSEN IB, NIELSEN KELD A, BORNHOLMS PLASTVAREFABRIK APS, MADSEN, IB, NIELSEN, KELD, A.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: E03D1
IPC codes: E03D1